BRAID Gathering for Incarcerated American Indian & Indigenous Peoples

Hosted in collaboration with the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, join us for a community gathering centered on connection, learning, and collective care. This afternoon brings together community members, artists, educators, and advocates to reflect on the work of the American Indian Studies Center’s BRAID Program (Books & Resources for American Indians in Detention), a community-led initiative that provides culturally meaningful books and educational resources to incarcerated American Indian and Indigenous relatives.
Through storytelling and cultural practice, the gathering creates space to reflect on resilience, responsibility, and the importance of maintaining relationships across systems of confinement and separation. The program will feature reflections from American Indian community members with lived experience of incarceration, alongside Shannon Rivers, Native American spiritual leader, human rights activist, and cultural advisor. Speakers will share insights on cultural continuity, healing, and the role of knowledge-sharing as a form of care.
The afternoon will include an opening prayer, music and dance, Native American community resource tables, and a guided tour of the Fowler Museum’s Fire Kinship exhibition. Participants will also have the option to learn more about BRAID’s work and contribute to the community book drive by bringing gently used books or educational materials.
This program is in partnership with UCLA American Indian Studies Center

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Host or Publisher Fowler Museum at UCLA